heart palpitations in third trimester

Mom Answers

I had this sensation starting around week 16 of my pregnancy. At week 20 it was getting so severe that I could not sleep. This - along with breathlessness and exhuastion led me to talk to my midwives. After a few times of me bringing this up they finally did some blood tests and discovered that my hemoglobin (red blood cell count) was 4.9...down from 13 when I got pregnant. I had to go to the hospital and had 4 blood transfusions and have been diagnosed with hemolytic anemia. I am now on steriods and being monitored very closely. I guess I would just caution to trust your gut and to be very serious about things like this and have tests done even if your symptoms seem 'typical' for pregnancy. Hopefully it isn't more than normal pregnancy symptoms for most but for me - the racing heart was a sign that my body was destroying my red blood cells and my lungs and heart were working overtime to get oxygen to my baby and my body. Thankfully my baby is fine since we caught it early.

I have had this sensation with each of my pregnancies. Sometimes I wake up at night and can't go back to sleep because my heart feels like it's beating too much. I have taken my pulse rate at these times and realized that it isn't going fast I am just more aware of the beating sensation. It is a bit unnerving. I have noticed that it tends to be worse if I have chocolate after 4pm or if I was standing a lot and my feet get swollen. I have realized that after lying down for a couple of hours the swelling goes down and the fluid is reabsorbed into my blood stream, making my heart beat a little stronger. I don't have any other symptoms like dizziness or high blood pressure so I don't really worry about it.

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